Method and apparatus for serving and managing storage of data streams in a surveillance and/or monitoring system

Abstract

The invention relates to methods and apparatuses for managing storage and serving of data streams generated by peripheral devices in a system for surveillance and/or monitoring. According to one aspect, the method comprises the steps of obtaining a configuration table, the configuration table comprising a list of one or more recording servers storing data segments generated by the peripheral device; building an association table, the association table comprising, for each recording server of the list, identifiers of data segments of the data stream stored therein; determining, based on the association table, the recording server storing a requested data segment; obtaining the requested data segment from the determined recording server and serving the obtained data segment.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for a video surveillance system comprising a management apparatus and a plurality of recording servers, the plurality of recording servers being capable of recording data segments generated by a plurality of devices which includes at least one of a camera and a microphone, the management apparatus and the plurality of recording servers are connected with each other over a network, the method comprising the following steps:
 receiving, at the plurality of recording servers, configuration information from the management apparatus, the configuration information including identifiers of the plurality of recording servers and identifiers of the plurality of devices, the identifiers of the plurality of recording servers and the identifiers of the plurality of devices being associated with each other in the configuration information, the configuration information further including information which indicates whether data segment generated by the device is recorded by the recording server associated with the device; 
 recording, at at least one of the plurality of recording servers, the data segment generated by the device, in accordance with the configuration information; 
 generating, at the plurality of recording servers, recording information for each data segment recorded by at least one of the plurality of recording servers, in accordance with the configuration information, the recording information indicating which recording server records the data segment; 
 acquiring, in a case where a given recording server of the plurality of recording servers receives a request for receiving data segment recorded by at least one of the plurality of recording servers and the given recording server of the plurality of recording servers does not have the requested data segment, the requested data segment at the given recording server from another recording server of the plurality of recording servers, based on the recording information; and 
 transmitting the requested data segment from the given recording server of the plurality of recording servers. 
 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the given recording server of the plurality of recording servers is a recording server that currently records data segments generated by the device which has recorded the requested data segment. 
     
     
       3. A video surveillance system comprising a management apparatus and a plurality of recording servers, the plurality of recording servers being capable of recording data segments generated by a plurality of devices which includes at least one of a camera and a microphone, the management apparatus and the plurality of recording servers are connected with each other over a network, each recording server comprising:
 receiving, at the plurality of recording servers, configuration information from the management apparatus, the configuration information including identifiers of the plurality of recording servers and identifiers of the plurality of devices, the identifiers of the plurality of recording servers and identifiers of the plurality of devices being associated with each other in the configuration information, the configuration information further including information which indicates whether data segment generated by the device is recorded by the recording server associated with the device; 
 recording, at at least one of the plurality of recording servers, the data segment generated by the device, in accordance with the configuration information; 
 generating, at the plurality of recording servers, recording information for each data segment recorded by at least one of the plurality of recording servers, in accordance with the configuration information, the recording information indicating which recording server records the data segment; 
 acquiring, in a case where a given recording server of the plurality of recording servers receives a request for receiving data segment recorded by at least one of the plurality of recording servers and the given recording server of the plurality of recording servers does not have the requested data segment, the requested data segment at the given recording server from another recording server of the plurality of recording servers, based on the recording information; and 
 transmitting the requested data segment from the given recording server of the plurality of recording servers. 
 
     
     
       4. The video surveillance system of  claim 3 , wherein the given recording server of the plurality of recording servers is a recording server that currently records data segments generated by the device which has recorded the requested data segment. 
     
     
       5. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing code portions for executing a method for a video surveillance system comprising a management apparatus and a plurality of recording servers, the plurality of recording servers being capable of recording data segments generated by a plurality of devices which includes at least one of a camera and a microphone, the management apparatus and the plurality of recording servers are connected with each other over a network, the method comprising the following steps:
 receiving, at the plurality of recording servers, configuration information from the management apparatus, the configuration information including identifiers of the plurality of recording servers and identifiers of the plurality of devices, the identifiers of the plurality of recording servers and the identifiers of the plurality of devices being associated with each other in the configuration information, the configuration information further including information which indicates whether data segment generated by the device is recorded by the recording server associated with the device; 
 recording, at at least one of the plurality of recording servers, the data segment generated by the device, in accordance with the configuration information; 
 generating, at the plurality of recording servers, recording information for each data segment recorded by at least one of the plurality of recording servers, in accordance with the configuration information, the recording information indicating which recording server records the data segment; 
 acquiring, in a case where a given recording server of the plurality of recording servers receives a request for receiving data segment recorded by at least one of the plurality of recording servers and the given recording server of the plurality of recording servers does not have the requested data segment, the requested data segment at the given recording server from another recording server of the plurality of recording servers, based on the recording information; and 
 transmitting the requested data segment from the given recording server of the plurality of recording servers.